OCT 31 | Why Jesus Ghosted His Fans: The Radical Practice of Holy Airplane Mode
Finding God in the Disconnect: What Mark 1:35 Teaches Us About Prayer, Solitude, and Spiritual Sanity
When Success Becomes the Enemy of Your Soul
You know that panic you feel when your phone dies and you can't find a charger? That instant anxiety that you might miss something important? Yeah. Jesus would've been terrible at social media.
And that's not an insult—it's maybe the most important spiritual lesson we could learn in our hyperconnected, always-available, notification-saturated world.
Mark 1:35 is one of those verses that gets quoted on inspirational Instagram posts and embroidered on throw pillows: "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."
Sounds nice. Sounds spiritual. But here's what we miss when we turn it into a pretty meme: this is the craziest business decision Jesus ever made.
The Viral Moment Jesus Walked Away From
Let's back up and look at what happened the day before. Mark 1:32-34 sets the scene: "That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door."
Read that again. The whole town.
This is it. This is what every church planter, every ministry leader, every influencer, every entrepreneur dreams about. The viral moment. Maximum reach. Everyone's talking about you. The metrics are exploding. The momentum is real.
You know what any reasonable person would do in this situation? Strike while the iron's hot. Double down. Scale up. Get up early to meet with more people, heal more sick, cast out more demons. This is your moment.
And what does Jesus do?
He disappears.
Not during a slow week. Not after things died down. Not when He had time to spare. At 4 AM, when it's still dark, when everyone's asleep, when He's got the biggest crowd of His ministry so far waiting outside the door... He ghosts them.
The Disciples' Panic and Jesus's Priority
Verse 36 is where it gets really interesting. Peter and the disciples finally track Him down—because of course they're freaking out. And listen to what Peter says: "Everyone is searching for you!"
You can hear the urgency dripping from those words, right? "Jesus, what are you doing out here? We've got momentum! The crowd's back! People are waiting! The opportunity is NOW! Let's GO!"
This is the part where any good leader would rush back, apologize for the delay, and get back to work.
Jesus's response? Verse 38: "Let us go somewhere else."
Somewhere else. He wants to leave town.
Can I be honest? If I were His PR manager, I'd be fired that day. If I were on His board of advisors, I'd be demanding an emergency meeting about this "concerning pattern of avoiding success."
But here's the thing we miss when we speed-read this passage: Jesus wasn't running FROM something. He was running TO something.
Understanding Eremos: The Intentional Empty Space
The Greek word Mark uses for "solitary place" is eremos. It's where we get our word "hermit." It means deserted, abandoned, empty, desolate.
Not peaceful necessarily. Not a spa retreat with essential oils and meditation music. Not a cozy prayer closet with a comfortable chair. Just... empty.
Because sometimes you don't need a better place. You need an empty place. You need somewhere where the noise stops, where the demands can't reach you, where the only voice you can hear is the one you came to listen to.
Jesus understood something that our modern world has completely forgotten: connection with God requires disconnection from everything else.
The disciples thought the problem was that people couldn't find Jesus. But Jesus knew the real problem would be if HE couldn't find the Father.
The Pattern You Can't Ignore
And this wasn't a one-time thing. This wasn't Jesus having an off day or making a rookie mistake. Watch the pattern across the Gospels:
Luke 5:16 – "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (often—as in regularly, habitually, consistently)
Mark 6:46 – After feeding the 5,000, one of His biggest public miracles, He immediately went up on a mountainside to pray
Luke 6:12 – Before choosing the twelve disciples (a major decision), He spent the entire night in prayer
Luke 9:18 – Before asking "Who do you say I am?" He was praying
Here's the counterintuitive truth: The busier Jesus's ministry got, the more He withdrew. Not less. More.
When demands increased, His solitude increased. When opportunities exploded, His prayer time expanded. When everyone wanted a piece of Him, He gave more of Himself to the Father.
If Jesus—who IS God, who had perfect communion with the Father, who never sinned or got distracted—needed that time disconnected from people to stay connected to God... what does that say about us?
Mission Clarity in the Midst of Noise
Look at what Jesus says in verse 38 again: "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."
"That is why I have come."
Jesus knew His mission. He knew His purpose. He knew why He was on earth and what He was supposed to do.
And He didn't know that because He checked His email that morning. Not because He scrolled through comments on His latest miracle. Not because Peter gave Him the latest crowd analytics. Not because He took a poll or read the room or followed the momentum.
He knew His mission because He stayed connected to the One who sent Him.
Our Addiction to Noise and Availability
Now here's where this gets uncomfortable. For me. Probably for you too.
We live in a world that's completely allergic to the word eremos. We're terrified of empty spaces. Silence feels like wasted time. Being unreachable feels irresponsible. Downtime feels like laziness.
We fill every gap with something: podcasts, music, scrolling, messages, notifications, news, entertainment, productivity. Our phones have made it possible to never, ever be alone with our thoughts.
You can wake up at 3 AM and have a conversation with someone on the other side of the world. You can be in the bathroom and catch up on global news. You can be physically "present" with your family while simultaneously being available to everyone in your contacts list.
And we wonder why we can't hear God's voice.
Look, I'm not anti-technology. I'm not saying God can't speak through a podcast or a worship song on Spotify or a timely text from a friend. Of course He can. God can use anything.
But here's my question: Can He speak in the silence? When there's no background noise? When you're not consuming content—just sitting there with an empty space, an open Bible, and an expectant heart?
When was the last time you experienced true silence? Not just quiet—silence. No input. No output. No performance. No production. Just you and God.
Introducing Holy Airplane Mode
Jesus called it eremos—a solitary place. I call it Holy Airplane Mode.
You know what airplane mode does, right? It doesn't turn your phone off completely. You can still use it—take photos, write notes, read something you've already downloaded. But it says, "For the next few hours, I'm disconnecting from everything else so I can focus on where I'm going."
It's not a rejection of communication. It's a temporary, intentional, purposeful disconnection from constant availability so you can be present to what matters most.
What if you had a daily practice of Holy Airplane Mode? Not a vacation from God—a vacation TO God. Not running from responsibility—running to the Source of wisdom for your responsibility.
Not escaping your calling—recalibrating your calling.
The Practical Path: What This Actually Looks Like
Okay, here's where we move from inspiration to implementation. Because ideas are worthless without action.
Here's what Holy Airplane Mode could look like in your actual life—and I'm not giving you rules, I'm giving you an invitation:
What if you protected 15 minutes—just 15 minutes—where:
Your phone is in another room (not just silenced, not face-down on the table—gone from sight)
You're not reading a devotional or a Bible app (there's absolutely a time for that, but this isn't it)
You're not preparing anything or producing anything (no sermon prep, no small group notes, no journaling prompts to share on social media)
You're just... there. With your Bible. Maybe with a journal. With nothing you have to accomplish or prove.
What to Expect (The Uncomfortable Truth)
I'll be honest with you—the first few times you do this, it's going to feel weird. Your brain is going to scream at you. You're going to think of 47 urgent things you need to do. You're going to wonder if you're "doing it right." You might feel guilty for "wasting time."
That's normal. That's not a sign you're bad at prayer. That's what it feels like when you've been running at 90 mph and you finally stop moving. The silence feels loud. The stillness feels chaotic.
Your soul is like a snow globe that's been shaken constantly. It takes time for things to settle. Give yourself grace.
The Conviction That Changes Everything
Here's what Jesus knew that we desperately need to relearn: If you're too busy to pray, you're busier than God ever intended you to be.
Read that again. Let it land.
God never designed you to run on empty. He never called you to be endlessly available to everyone while never being present to Him. He never asked you to sacrifice your connection with Him on the altar of productivity or ministry or even good works.
The disciples thought disconnecting from the crowd was the problem. Jesus knew disconnecting from the Father was the problem.
Peter saw a missed opportunity. Jesus saw a protected priority.
The disciples measured success by crowd size. Jesus measured success by mission clarity.
Your Invitation to Eremos
So here's my challenge for you—not as guilt, not as one more thing on your to-do list, but as an invitation to something your soul is desperate for:
Tomorrow morning, try Holy Airplane Mode.
Not someday. Not when life calms down. Not when you finally have your act together. Tomorrow.
Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier. Put your phone in airplane mode—better yet, put it in a different room. Make some coffee or tea. Sit somewhere comfortable. Open your Bible to Mark 1:35.
And just... be there.
Don't worry about having profound thoughts or experiencing dramatic spiritual breakthroughs. Don't pressure yourself to "feel" something. Just show up. Be present. Create space.
Tell God you're there. Ask Him to speak. Read His Word slowly. Sit in the silence. Notice what comes up—the anxiety, the to-do lists, the distractions. Don't fight them. Just notice them and bring your attention back to His presence.
The Question That Won't Let You Go
What would happen if you took Jesus's example seriously? Not just admired it from a distance, not just agreed it's a good idea—actually practiced it?
What if the most spiritual thing you do this week isn't serving in a ministry or attending a Bible study? What if it's disappearing? Going to your eremos. Your Holy Airplane Mode. Your solitary place where the crowds can't follow and the demands can't reach.
Because connection with God sometimes costs disconnection from everything else.
Even good things.
Especially good things.
Mark 1:35 isn't just a nice verse about Jesus praying. It's a pattern, a priority, a practice that shaped everything He did. He made space to hear the voice that mattered most. And because He did that consistently, He didn't get distracted by all the other voices telling Him what He should do, where He should go, who He should be.
Maybe the most radical thing you could do in our hyperconnected world is occasionally become unreachable.
Not to everyone forever. But to everyone temporarily so you can be fully present to the One eternally.
Jesus knew why He came because He kept returning to the One who sent Him.
Do you know why you're here?
Maybe it's time for some Holy Airplane Mode to find out.
An Invitation to go Deeper….
If today’s message spoke to you, join the FaithLabz 30-Day Prayer Challenge and strengthen your connection with God’s unshakable love. You are never alone—let’s grow together!
